Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. 

UN Women Ukraine works to support the consolidated efforts of the Government, Parliament, women’s groups and civil society organizations (CSOs) to meet Ukraine’s commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (including UNSCR 1325), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) of the 4th World Conference for Women (1995) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among other international and regional frameworks. UN Women provides support to the Government in achieving transformative results for gender equality and women’s empowerment in Ukraine by integrating gender equality and women’s human rights commitments into the national reforms and the peace and security processes, and by putting mechanisms in place for adequate financing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

The global HeForShe solidarity movement for gender equality was launched by UN Women in Ukraine and supported by opinion leaders and influencers from diverse fields, such as in academia, sports, the arts, the private sector, government and more, as public advocates for change and commit to progress towards gender equality within their own fields and institutions. As part of the HeforShe commitment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) became the first ministry in Ukraine to commit to conducting a Gender Equality Audit (GEA) with the aim to mainstream gender equality in the internal policies, processes and structures at the level of the ministry, work units and individuals. In 2019-2020, the GEA was conducted by the MFA with expert and technical support of UN Women, and in line with national and international commitments of Ukraine on gender equality and women’s rights, including CEDAW and National Action Plan on CEDAW Committee Concluding Observations Implementation. The Ministry demonstrated solid ownership for the GEA results, as evidenced by establishing a GEA Task Force to ensure participatory approach and represent different departments. The Task Force played a critical role in the GEA process through ensuring that staff and management engaged both in the consultations and analysis inherent in the process.

The key findings of GEA were publicly discussed at a multi-stakeholder meeting, while its recommendations informed development of the MFA Strategy and Action Plan on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men, including improvement of the normative framework, capacity building and awareness raising activities, improvement of the monitoring system, internal administrative and HR policies, advocacy and information campaigns. Importantly, the Ministry reaffirmed its commitments by establishing the Gender Equality Commission. Besides, the second NAP 1325 for the period till 2025 was adopted by the Government in October 2020 and the Ministry is one of the responsible agency.

To strengthen these efforts, UN Women is now seeking a National Consultant to provide coordination and expert support to the MFA with design facilitation and step-by-step implementation of the Action Plan on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men for 2021.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Representative of UN Women in Ukraine and the Programme Specialist, technical guidance of the Programme Analyst on Gender-Responsive Reforms and in coordination with the MFA and its Gender Equality Commission, the Consultant will implement a set of tasks, including, but not limited to: 

1. Task 1. Facilitate design of the Action Plan on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men for the Ministry for 2021:

• In consultation with the Ministry to facilitate finalization of design of the Action Plan on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men;
• In cooperation with UN Women experts on Women, Peace and Security and in consultations with the Ministry to facilitate development of a set of actions related to implementation NAP 1325 by the Ministry (either as a separate plan or as a component of the Action Plan on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men);

1. Task 2. Provide coordination and expert support to the MFA on the implementation of the Action Plan on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men for 2021:

• Provide policy advise, technical and coordination support to the Ministry to implement the Action Plan 2021;
• Perform any other tasks as requested by the MFA on the Action Plan implementation (in cooperation with UN Women experts);

1. Taks 3. Provide coordination and expert support to strengthen capacity of the Ministry and the diplomatic service staff on advancing equal rights and opportunities of women and men:

• Provide coordination and technical support to contribute to the capacity strengthening of the Ministry and the diplomatic service staff on advancing equal rights and opportunities of women and men and in line with the Ministry’s  Action Plan for 2021 (in possible cooperation with UN Women and the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service and UN Women experts).

Assignment /Deliverables 

TOTAL – 50 DAYS

*All reports should be submitted in English language and include the full set of supporting documents, such as propositions to the legal and normative documents, event agendas and methodologies, handouts, lists of participants, etc. The supporting documents can be submitted in Ukrainian. 

Inputs 

• UN Women will provide the Consultant with background materials related to the assignment. 
• The consultant is expected to work using her/his own computer. 

Performance evaluation: 

• Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment on a delivery by delivery basis to the consultant. 

Financial arrangements: ? 

• Payment will be disbursed in five instalments upon receipt of the deliverables (as per above matrix) and certification by UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed. 

Competencies

Core Values 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 
• Competencies 

Core Competencies 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues 
• Accountability 
• Creative Problem Solving 
• Effective Communication 
• Inclusive Collaboration 
• Stakeholder Engagement 
• Leading by Example 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637 

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education: 

Advanced (Masters) degree in International Law, International Relations, Gender Studies, Social Sciences or other related fields.

Experience: 

• At least 3 years of professional experience in the field of human rights and/or gender equality, governance and public administration, civil service or other related fields;  
• Proven experience of work with or/and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine;
• Understanding of gender equality and women’s human rights national and international commitments;
• Experience in organization of meetings and consultations with governmental authorities.

Languages and other skills:   

• Fluent in English and Ukrainian; 
• Computer literacy and ability to effectively use office technology equipment, communication and IT tools, ability to use Internet and email; 

Evaluation of Applicants: 

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: 

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable.  
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.  

Technical criteria - 70% of total evaluation. Total max 70 points:  

• The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 70. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria: 

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:  

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated.  
• The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.  
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price. 
• Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30   (S - score received on financial evaluation; F min - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round; F - financial offer under the consideration). 

Application and submission package: 

All applications must include as one attachment:  

• Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form, which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 
• Financial proposal (sample is provided below) completed and signed.The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (telephone, etc.). 

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.  

Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 12:00 am February 23, 2021 by submitting applications to the following e-mail address: hr.ukraine@unwomen.org  with a subject “National Consultant on Technical Support on the Development and Implementation of the Action Plan on Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine”.

Applications without P11 and financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment. 

Sample of Financial Proposal 

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal 

1. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables* 

*Basis for payment tranches 

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.